"Cough-cough!" After being thrown out like some garbage by Danzō, Raikage fell heavily to the ground, he coughed heavily and took deep breaths.
Although extremely tired and injured, Ay's mind wasn't slow and looked doubtfully in the direction Danzō disappeared unable to figure out why Danzō left him alive and ran away all of a sudden, he is not certain why but he could feel that Danzō was somewhat panicked at that moment.
At the same time when thinking of the consequences Danzō didn't retreat immediately Ay felt terrified. No doubt, Danzō would have killed him and the rest of the Kumogakure shinobi following him, after killing them, Danzō would have captured Bee and then taken over the Kumogakure Village.
He didn't know whether to feel glad or angered that the worst didn't happen.
At this time, the Kumogakure shinobi who managed the calamity named Danzō gathered around Ay and worriedly asked, "Raikage-sama… are you… are you alright?"
Ay gave no answer to the concern of his subordinates, instead, he pushed them aside since they were blocking his vision and then looked at the thing flying in the sky not far from the battlefield, and couldn't help but think, 'They are butterflies? It's odd for butterflies to be present at such a battlefield… could it be that they are…!'
Before Ay could complete it, his thoughts were interrupted midway by the sudden indistinct rap that came from his side, "Brother, are you okay? Why are you looking in a daze? Did you hit your head in the craze? Fool, ya fool!"
Listening to Bee's voice, Ay sighed, and without moving his gaze, he ordered the Kumogakure shinobi gathered around him, "Take the injured, we will immediately retreat!"
Bee followed Ay's gaze looked at the origami butterfly gradually flying away, and questioned, "What's wrong brother?"
Ay replied with a solemn expression, "The fact that Danzō retreated so decisively worries me… He clearly had the opportunity to kill me, yet he didn't and put more importance on escaping instead of finishing me." And added after a pause, "This can only mean one thing, someone is after him as well, and given how decisive Danzō was on escaping, we can conclude that the strength of the person pursuing him is something that even Danzō is afraid of, which means that the other person is definitely stronger than us as well, that's why we can't stay here any longer, we have to retreat as well!"
Killer Bee was taken aback, "Wait brother, Danzō didn't kill us just now… do you think he wants us to resist his pursuers and buy him some time? Buy why would we do that… unless…"
Ay nodded with a gloomy face. He really couldn't think of any other reason. Based on Ay's understanding, given Danzō's strength, there are probably only two people in this shinobi world who have enough power and terror to make even Danzō run in panic, and those two are none other than Yama and Nagato.
Since Amatsukami Organization currently has a cooperative relationship with the five great shinobi villages, it's highly unlikely for Yama to attack them, which can only mean one thing, the one pursuing Danzō is undoubtedly Nagato, and perhaps some other members of the Akatsuki Organization as well.
If the person is really Nagato, then they definitely can't stay here, because Nagato will not only kill all of them but even capture Bee, which would be the worst situation for Kumogakure, so after realizing the seriousness of the problem, Ay, Bee, as well as the other Kumogakure shinobi quickly cleaned up the mess on the battlefield, picked up their injured companions and immediately retreated from the battlefield.
On the way back to the Land of Lightning, Killer Bee often looked back and muttered with lingering fear, "This time we were really unlucky… who would have thought that in addition to having Uchiha's Susano'o, Danzō can also use Shodaime Hokage's Wood Release… With those tree roots binding me, I couldn't use the power of Gyūki at all… Wood Release is really the nemesis of the Tailed Beasts and Jinchuriki! No wonder, Shodaime Hokage proposed to catch all the nine-tailed beasts and distribute them to the five great shinobi villages during the first Five Kage Conference. He wasn't afraid of their powers at all as he had the confidence to singlehandedly deal with all nine of them."
Thinking of the terrible feeling and helplessness in the face of Danzō's Jutsu, Bee feels terrible, he really couldn't imagine how fathomable Shodaime Hokage was at that time who created the era of the five great shinobi villages.
The always reckless Ay also took time to reflect on his actions and apologized, "Bee please forgive me… It was my anger and foolishness that almost resulted in our doom…"
Bee shook his head, "Don't worry brother." Then asked, "What should we do now?"
Ay suppressed the anger and unwillingness in his heart, and said with a sullen expression, "Although I hate to admit it, Danzō has really become an existence beyond us. I don't know what does Akatsuki Organization wants from Danzō, but we can't depend on them. We must hold the Five Kage conference and discuss the matter of Danzō with the other four Kage and devise a plan to deal with him together."
…
Danzō's side
After retreating from the battle, Danzō made his way towards the coast of the Land of Hot Springs, while traversing through the forests, he suddenly sensed something, stopped, and said coldly, "Come out!"
Following Danzō's words, a shite snake crawled out from behind a tree and took the form of Orochimaru.
Looking at the person, Danzō frowned, "Orochimaru? What do you want now?"
Orochimaru looked up and down at Danzō, and while licking his lips with his long tongue, he said, "Tsk tsk… Danzō, your current situation doesn't look very good… how about I help you out a little?"
From Orochimaru's perspective Danzō's clothes were tattered all over and stained with blood, and from the way the blood had soaked Danzō's clothes, Orochimaru was quite certain that this was the result of injuries, so the blood much have been Danzō's not the enemies. From Danzō's disordered breath, and his somewhat panicked state, Orochimaru was able to confirm that Danzō is having a hard time because of being on the run for so long. Observing Danzō's state, it can also be concluded that the rumors about him are somewhat credible. Therefore, Orochimaru initially tried to play it his way and gave Danzō an olive branch.
However, Danzō obviously didn't believe in Orochimaru's words, and snorted coldly, "Orochimaru, cut the act, and answer me straight, are you also after my Sharingan?"
Orochimaru chuckled, "Hahaha…" then he shook his head and while licking his lips in excitement he said with greedy eyes, "No no no… Danzō, you are wrong, I don't just want the Sharingan, I want your entire body! The body you are using was specifically created by me, the likes of you aren't worthy of using such a perfect body, isn't it obvious for me to take it back for my own use?"
Looking at his serious eyes, and hearing his words, Danzō snorted, and said with a smile, "Orochimaru, do you know who I was fighting against before?"
Orochimaru held his chin and said, "I personally saw you fighting against the Six Paths of Pain and Konan of the Akatsuki Organization, then I did hear rumors about you slaughtering over a hundred Kusagakure shinobi, and yeah, I am also aware of your fight against the Yondaime Raikage and Killer Bee not long ago… but what does that matter? Do you think you scare me? Although I suppose that I should be grateful to those people for consuming your chakra, physical strength, and mental strength."
Danzō was surprised, "You are aware of all this, and yet you are here?"
Orochimaru laughed and immediately after weaving the hand signs, he tapped on the ground, 'Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei!'
Hearing these familiar words, Danzō's expression changed, 'He plans to use Shodaime-sama and Nidaime-sama's Edo Tensei!' and quickly let out a roar.
ROAR!
Danzō's sudden roar shook Orochimaru's soul and caused him to come to a stop midway and cough out blood, and couldn't help but think, 'Didn't he need to use the Susano'o to use this?'
Using this brief window when Orochimaru was catching his breath, Danzō immediately activated his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan and used a Genjutsu on him.
Orochimaru was horrified to find that he can't move at all!
With Orochimaru captured, Danzō walked up to him and said, "Orochimaru… you dared to underestimate me… this was your greatest mistake, true the two Hokage are extremely strong, however, they are of no use if they can't even come out."
Orochimaru's expression was stiff, he still couldn't believe that Danzō was able to put him in a Genjutsu with just a single glance!
Noting Orochimaru's silence, Danzō patted his shoulder and said, "Speaking of which, I should be thanking you. If you hadn't tried to do anything underhanded during the ritual ceremony, I might not have gained this level of power." And added after a pause, "It's really a pity that in the end, you chose the wrong person to steal the body… if you had remained loyal to me, you would have gained a place in the future shinobi world too… alas… it can't be helped, you chose to make yourself my enemy, so you have to be prepared of the consequences."
Having said that, Danzō looked at Orochimaru with his left Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan and poured chakra into his body.
As Danzō poured his chakra into Orochimaru's body, suddenly a bloody mist started to circle around him and started to decay his body.
"Ahhhhhh….!" Orochimaru cried in pain as his body started to decay and dissolve under the effects of the bloody mist.
Orochimaru's painful cry was the most melodious song to Danzō's ears, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the act of killing Orochimaru with contentment.
Within a few seconds, Orochimaru's body turned into liquid, and with that Orochimaru died.
After dealing with Orochimaru, Danzō shook his head and continued traversing toward the coast of the Land of Hot Spring.
The reason he came all the way to the coast is to cross the sea.
Having spent the last few months running, escaping, and fighting all over the Shinobi World, Danzō has understood that he needs a safe foothold now, and Kirigakure in the Land of Water is his best option.
Although Danzō wants to kill the female Homusubi and evolve his eyes, however, there are no signs of members of Amatsukami coming after him, he has encountered people from all the Shinobi Villages and even fought against the Akatsuki Organization, but there is no news of Amatsukami or Homusubi, this makes Danzō doubtful. He doesn't know what's going on with Amatsukami and why they are not coming after him, but he has understood that he can't force Homusubi to come out using himself as bait, so he plans to use other means. And taking over Kirigakure will be one of those means.
Danzō believes that taking over Kirigakure––whose military strength is not very strong at this time––won't be very difficult. He just has to use a Genjutsu on the current Mizukage Yagura, and he will be able to control Kirigakure from the shadows. With his strength and Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, this won't be very difficult.
With such a plan in his mind, Danzō jumped into the sea and ran towards the Land of Water.
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